For The Love Of My Friends Continued
by CalicoKitty17
Summary: Read 'For The Love Of My Friends' by Foxie-sama if you want to understand anything that's going on. Naruto has been thrown to the past to rectify a horrible slight against humanity that the world doesn't appreciate. Thing is, he's not strong enough yet, and he's more interested in keeping his friends alive. But he doesn't really have a choice in the matter...
1. Important Author's Note

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOTE

Which is why it gets its own chapter slot, of course.

'For The Love Of My Friends' is not an original story, it was originally written by Foxie-sama and was very good with a total of 5550 reviews, 4081 favorite's, and 2845 follow's.

Foxie-sama, however, has better things to do than continue this story, which is no insult to him/her. It just means he/she has a life, unlike the rest of us fanfiction-ers.

Anyway, I have decided to take it upon myself to continue this story. I'm bored and have nothing better to do. My parents and teachers would likely disagree, but they annoy me, so this is like a slight 'Ha!' to them as well.

I'm just here to say the first 522,144 words, which equates to the first 57 chapters belong to Foxie-sama and are a completely separate story that you should probably read before reading this one. I'm too lazy to copy, paste, and publish all 57 chapters again when you can just go look it up yourself with a few taps of your computer button.

The first (well, my first chapter, anyway) should be put up within the next week.

Hopefully. I have a pretty good idea of the beginning, but I'm not sure how long it'll last.

Oh, and by all means, if any of you wish to continue the story with your own version of what transpires after Foxie-sama's unfair conclusion, feel free. I'd like to read somebody else's version too.

Well...that's all.


	2. Author's Note 2

**ANOTHER EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOTE**

Sorry if you were hoping for an actual chapter. False alarm.

I actually need your guys' opinion on something.

Should I completely rewrite the story or start from where Foxie-sama started?

To clarify, if I was going to completely rewrite the story I would basically be a glorified editor, and maybe add a few scenes. It would also give me a better handle on the story and more time to hash out chapters 58 and a few others. It would also help, so new readers don't have to search for the original story before reading this one unless they want to.

I'm not completely sure, though, what do you think?

Just leave a review on what you think.

Oh! And thank you wakka wakka for your really helpful tips. I'll be sure to keep them in mind. :-)


	3. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Alright, I'm only doing this once, so pay attention. For The Love of My Friends chapters 1-57 do not belong to me, they belong to Foxie-sama, but he has given his permission for us mere mortals to continue his story, as he is likely to never get back to it. If anyone else would like to do their own rewrite they're welcome to, but this is my version. Foxie-sama's original chapters will mostly only be slightly edited by me when I post them.

If you have any suggestions, feel free to review or PM me, I take compliments, advice, flames, whatever you can throw at me, I promise I can handle it, and if it's particularly good advice or a pointless rant then I will likely reply, or refer to you in the next chapter.

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The Hidden Leaf Village was known for many things, the strength of its ninjas, the beautiful springs and summers, the great training faculties... Konoha was always seen as the last village that would fall under siege with the protection of legendary shinobi's that no other village could match and expert strategies and counters for any possible attack. It was said to be an impossible feat.

But many impossible things can be done by shinobi who know what they're doing.

More than half of Konoha was occupied by the Sound, its most hated and dangerous enemy, because they had succeeded where other villages had failed, not with more skill or overwhelming forces, but with the knowledge of a traitor. Orochimaru of the Sannin had what none of the other Kage's had, information. He had been born and raised in Konoha, therefore, he was very familiar with their methods. He knew the blueprints of every important building, every possible opening, the weaknesses of every clan, where to strike, how to strike, and what to strike. It had been pathetically easy for him to gain access, and proceed to bomb the Hokage Monument. The destruction of such a prized part of the village had caused the shinobi morale to plummet, until some of them didn't even have the will to fight. After that, it was a series of attacks that exploited weaknesses in their defense and before they knew it, most of the village had been taken over and a majority of the shinobi either gave up or were killed. The small percentage of Konoha that hadn't been invaded was being used as a refuge for the remaining Leaf shinobi.

"Come in Home Base. This is Team Omega," someone whispered. Two ninjas cautiously walked down the road, near the crossroads of Sakura and Lotus avenue. The first, a tall strange looking man with eyebrows that nearly took up his entire forehead lead the way, his dark eyes sweeping over the debris and rubble that littered the streets. His eyes were sad. Never would he have thought his proud village would be in such a state, ten years ago.

The man that shadowed his footsteps was pale and thin, a stark contrast of the tanned and husky build he had sported before the invasion, with two red strips going down his face. He had a hand on his ear, presumably the one trying to get in contact with Home Base. A large dog walked protectively at his side, ears perked and his body prepped for action at any given moment. His white fur had been thoroughly rubbed through with dirt, dulling the color so it wasn't as noticeable and his dark eyes were intelligent, more so than a regular canine, and they surveyed the area warily. The war hadn't just taken a toll on the humans.

"Fuck. These things have horrible reception." The man with the dog hissed harshly, yanking the communicator off. He shook it around, as if he was trying to intimidate it into working. His companion looked back, wordlessly asking for the communicator with a casual hand. The other man tossed it to him.

With undying patience, the thick browed man adjusted the wavelength until it was the right one. "Home Base? Over." He asked of the communicator quietly.

Someone coughed on the other end. "Just where the hell are you guys? Over." Both of the men smiled, recognizing the stern voice of the operator.

"And don't give me that bullshit excuse 'We got lost'. Naruto already used it. Over." They both laughed quietly, despite the seriousness of the situation. _Really, Naruto-kun.._ the first thought with a shake of his dark hair. How could they get lost in their own village?

"My apologies, Shikamaru-kun.. Kiba-kun and I got intercepted by sound nins. Over." the man said politely. Kiba rolled his eyes.

"How many survivors, Lee?" Shikamaru asked, his voice slightly staticy over the faulty line. Lee frowned.

"Only Kiba-kun and myself." He said somberly, exchanging a dark look with Kiba, who snarled. Shikamaru cursed over the line.

"Another fucking win for Orochimaru.." Kiba whispered angrily to Lee. The taijutsu specialist could only nod silently, his dark eyes full of sorrow.

* * *

They made it to Home Base, once the Hyuuga mansion in better days, got past the guards, and found themselves in the makeshift infirmary. The head medic, their pink haired friend, Sakura, looked them over with a critical eye. They found themselves shifting uncomfortably under her gaze.

"You really shouldn't overexert yourselves." she said scoldingly. Kiba shrugged, leaving Lee to do all the ass kissing he wanted. Lee's eyes morphed into hearts when he spoke to the pretty medic.

"But of course, Sakura-san! How foolish of us!" He took her hands in his. "We'll follow your orders the next time, my lotus blossom!" Sakura arched an eyebrow in amusement, too used to his antics to be embarrassed.

"Hey, don't volunteer my services, Thick Brows." Kiba said rudely. He turned to Sakura. "Where's the idiot?" Sakura smiled when she thought about her blonde teammate. He was usually attached to her hip, making sure she didn't fall into a period of depression. Even now, after seven years, she still mourned Sasuke's death. Inside, she was still the little girl, so in love with the quiet boy.

"I'm not sure. Maybe with the Hokage?"

* * *

Nara Shikamaru stared at the memorial stone, brought to their hideout by Kakashi, in the last hours of his life.

"_O-Obito and I.. tried to put in his name. Sound interrupted_.." Kakashi had muttered, his voice slurred from the large doses of poison injected in him. "_Can you carve Iruka's name in?_"

Iruka was Kakashi's best friend. The chuunin instructor had been killed when the Hokage was attacked by several curse-seal- infected sound nins. He was the only one to see the attack that could have ended Tsunade's life, and threw himself in front of it. He was killed instantly. A noble death for a ninja, to die for one's village.

Shikamaru remembered how the Hokage broke the news to Naruto, just coming back from a dangerous mission. The slightly happy look on the blond's face had fallen, his expressive eyes had filled with tears. He hadn't believed it, and had run all the way to Iruka's apartment. He ripped through the wooden door, screaming his adopted father's name. In the end, Naruto had accepted the truth. Iruka was gone. No one cared about him anymore.

The shadow user's eyes landed on a different name. Hyuuga Hinata.

She had been the one to guide Naruto out of his depression, to bring him back to them. But only to be cruelly taken away by the Grim Reaper, in a successful attempt to bring Naruto back to life after his epic battle with Kabuto.

It was a wonder that Naruto didn't snap and go crazy. Shikamaru knew of the Kyuubi, one of the few of the people his age that did. He didn't hate Naruto for it. It would take too much effort for a Nara to actually _hate_ someone. Rather, Shikamaru was in awe how the blond seemed to be oblivious of it. How the blond could walk with his head held high, in a crowd of people who hated him purely because of what the Kyuubi did so many years ago.

Two long arms wrapped around his shoulders in an embrace. He leaned back, careful not to jar his pregnant wife too much.

Yes, he was a fool enough to accidentally get her pregnant in a time of war. All the child would ever see was blood shed and the bloody fragments of their beloved village. However, to his great surprise, instead of anger from the last surviving ninjas of Konoha, the new life that Ino carried within her was a great boost in their spirit.

The almost always frowning Neji gave her some of the baby things stored in the attic, with a tiny smile. Naruto always cooed and asked to feel the baby kicking, always adding in 'She's gonna be one helluva ninja!' whenever the baby kicked particularly hard. Kiba and Lee had dragged Shikamaru aside, immediately on him, not for getting her pregnant, but how a competent husband and soon to be father was supposed to act around a pregnant mom, not that either of the two had the experience.

Tsunade and Sakura acted particularly gleeful about it, as most women did, saying they'd love to see her through the pregnancy, all while scolding Shikamaru about being too rough with her. Chouji, Konohamaru, Inari, and Naruto, the biggest eaters of the Rebellion, started giving his wife great portions of their share of food, insisting she needed it more than they did.

Gaara and his siblings, the few times that they visited before the village was occupied by the Sound, gave Shikamaru a stiff congratulations. Temari, as expected, illuminated her remorse about not 'going after him when she had the chance', the most sure fire way to set his wife's temper off. After his wife had ranted at Temari for still flirting with him, the sand nin patted her shoulder, asking if she felt better. To his surprise, Ino nodded. They walked off, arm in arm, talking about baby toys and colors that the nursery would be painted in.

Gaara had lingered back, giving him that unnerving look of his. Surprisingly, the Kazekage had a bit of advice that Shikamaru, though wary of him, took to heart. "_Keep her safe_." the red head had said seriously, a frown tugging the corners of his mouth down. "_Or else_."

Shikamaru sighed heavily. "We're running out of time." He told his wife, ripping the communicator off his ear. He tossed it away from him. Nara Ino couldn't think of anything to say, but gave him all the comfort she could, pulling the special jonin deeper into her embrace until he finally relaxed against her. He stared off into the distance, looking not at, but through the memorial stone that Kakashi had so foolishly risked his life for. "This war.. It should have never started." He whispered, entwining his hand in his wife's and gently kissing the back.

The Anbu in the corner slipped out, not wanting to intrude on a personal moment. His long blond hair shadowed his expressive eyes. _He's right... This shit has gone on far too long,_ he thought.

A voice interrupted his thoughts, a voice oozing with wisdom and power. **Maybe.. there's a way to keep it from happening?** His tenant mused, almost to himself. The Anbu's temper was sparked.

"Listen, fur ball, that isn't funny-"

"Uzumaki Naruto.. Talking to yourself again?" The Anbu looked up, blue eyes widening in surprise. Then he grinned.

"Gaara!" He gave the Kazekage an affectionate hug. The red head looked away, an expression of either embarrassment or annoyance flitting across his pale face. Naruto pulled away, oblivious to the demon's host obvious discomfort at being touched. But Naruto was always affectionate to his friends, whether they liked it or not.

Gaara couldn't decide whether it was the fact that Naruto was his friend, or that Naruto could beat him in a demon to demon fight, being why he never complained about the blond's over zealousness. He supposed it was a little bit of both.

Naruto bounced on the balls of his feet, excited by his appearance. "You're here to see the old lady right? Come one, I'll show you-" A series of massive explosions cut him off. The mansion was suddenly a hundred degrees hotter. Gaara grabbed Naruto by his arm, creating a sphere of sand around both demon hosts. It protected them from the shockwave of heat and the flying debris.

After a few seconds, an eternity to Naruto, the explosions stopped. The sand fell, the two demon hosts having a bit of a hard time getting out of it. The first layer of sand had turned into solid glass. Naruto threw himself through it, not caring about the numerous wounds that appeared on his body. Sliding on the shards of glass, he ran back into the room he just left.

"Shika!" He cried. "Ino!"

The memorial stone had protected them from the worst of the blast, but not the debris that had been thrown around. Shikamaru had pushed his wife down, using his body as shield against it. Blood pooled around their bodies, all his.

Ino rocked back and forth, Shikamaru's body in her arms. Even in death, the tactician had a frown. Weak at the knees and slightly hysterical at the sight of one of his oldest friends' death, Naruto wondered if Shikamaru would open his eyes one last time and mumble something about how troublesome death is.

He barely registered the feeling of his knees hitting the ground as he dropped down in front of the expectant mother, watching her wide terrified eyes blink rapidly as she cried. He wanted to reach for her. He wanted to reach for him. He wanted to run away and pretend that he didn't see Shikamaru's corpse in the frail Yamanaka's arms. He wanted to run out of the house, and, with a primal roar of anger, brutally kill whoever attacked them.

But he was frozen still, captivated by the look of pain in her eyes. She stared at him in return, slowly coming to the horrifying realization that she wasn't in a dream. Slowly, Ino tore her gaze from him and looked over his shoulder at the stoic Kazekage, his lips twisted in something that could have been disgust, or sadness.

Her attention shifting between them, she started to shake, tears streaming down her pale face as she looked at the two demon hosts. They stared back in a mix of shock, sadness, and pity. Her chapped lips parted. The scream that ripped through her throat would haunt them for months afterward.

"No!"


	4. Chapter 2

Before the beginning of the war, twenty thousand people had populated Konoha.

After one year, the deaths due to the war whittled down the population by two thousand.

Year five of the war, the population was only eight thousand.

Year ten.. there was seventy people.

In one day, seventy people decreased to nine.

They escaped from the Hyuuga mansion to a safe house a few blocks away. It was about the size of a closet. They all huddled together inside.

Hyuuga Neji sat against the door, eyes shut. He had been on the second floor of the mansion training when the explosions started. He had seen them a second before it hit the room and performed a Heavenly Spin. It saved him for the most part, but he had horrible burns on his arms.

Sakura and Lee sat next to him on either side. They had been sitting by the unlit fireplace. The bricks barely held. They both were cut and scratched up, but other than that, they looked fine. Sakura had her arm around a sobbing Ino. She hadn't stopped crying since they left the house.

Next to Lee, looking tiny compared to the rest of them, sat Inari and Konohamaru. They had been raiding the kitchen for some food with Chouji. The first explosion had knocked the swinging doors off the hinges. Realizing something was horribly wrong, Chouji had pushed Inari and Konohamaru into one of the cabinets. They were shielded by his bulk when the second and third explosions rocked the room. The brave ninja went down only when the last bit of debris had stopped flying around.

Gaara sat next to Inari, his face impassive. Both of his siblings had been killed. Inari let out a muffled sniffle. His mother had brought him to Konoha when Orochimaru had taken over the Wave Country. She had went back to her country to help, and never came back for Inari. The boy shoved his fist in his mouth to stop crying. A light pressure on his head made him look up.

Gaara didn't look at the boy, just kept his hand lightly on Inari's head.

"It's going to be alright.." he said, no change in expression. Inari swallowed harshly, and nodded. He attempted to copy the stotic expressions of most of the ninjas around the room, but found it to be very difficult.

Konohamaru stared blankly at his hands, the only show of emotion from him was the flexing of his fingers. No one could tell what he was thinking, or if he was thinking. But Lee could only guess at what types of thoughts were running through the young chuunin's head. He kept a firm hand on the boy's elbow, making sure that he didn't end up doing something stupid, like running out in the open and attempting to find the sound nins that attacked them.

The Hokage sat next to Ino, her face grim. She had dropped a pencil underneath the desk she had been sitting at, and had went down on her hands and knees to retrieve it. The explosion had knocked the table to the side of the wall, with her still underneath it. The floor weakened from the stress, collapsed underneath it and the Hokage. Only her ninja reflexes kept her from being squashed under the heavy slate table.

Naruto sat between Gaara and the Hokage. He glared at his lap, hands tensing in his flak jacket. _It was only luck that saved us,_he thought angrily. _How did they find us!?_

Their hideout was hidden by illusions and a powerful jutsu that Naruto himself had put up. One who wished to harm anyone within in the sealed area could not find the Hyuuga mansion. Even if they had lived there before, or knew where it was, all they would see was debris and feel a strong urge to look elsewhere.

_Even if there was a spy.._ he thought, eyes flashing red at the thought. _No one should have be able to find us! _He shook, partly in anger, and partly in fear. Someone had broken his jutsu.. If that person came now, he would not be able to protect his precious people.

**You could..stop the war from even happening..** The Kyuubi mused from the back of Naruto's mind. Naruto felt his anger grow.

_That wasn't funny then, and it isn't funny now, fox! _he shouted mentally. There was a slight shift in the demon fox's chakra, an almost mental shrug.

**Look at the blond insect.. **the fox muttered. Naruto's eyes shifted almost immediately to Ino. She had stopped crying, and was staring vacantly at the wall. Her hand was curled over her stomach, where her baby was still growing. _She needs Shikamaru.. _he thought, oddly detached. _This can't possibly be good for the baby. _

**Look at your so called 'precious people'. You refuse to listen to listen to a small amount of hope. You hypocrite.. **the Kyuubi snarled. Naruto paled. **I give you a chance to redo the wrongs.. the things that lead to the demise of your comrades**.

The Kyuubi began throwing mental images at his vessel.

Kakashi showing up three hours late, a sheepish smile hidden beneath his masked face and his perverted book in one hand, to shrill shrieks of _'you're late!'. _

Iruka ordering him to clean up his graffiti on the Hokage monument, then treating him to ramen afterwards.

The accidental kiss with Sasuke before they were genin, and the brutal beating he got from the Uchiha's fan girls.

Shikamaru visiting him in the hospital and trying to teach him how to play shogi.

Gai punching Lee, then with a scary show of sparkly lights and a background of a setting sun, the two hugging each other with tears running down their faces.

Tenten and the other kunoichis giggling in front of a book store.

Kiba and Shino sparring while he and Akamaru watched.

**And you refuse to think about it! **The fox sneered. **The insect that sealed me in you cared more about his friends than you do.. You would have made a terrible Hokage..**

_Shut up!_ Naruto said to him. _I would do anything for them! I would die a thousand times for a single smile out of any one of them! _There was a surprised silence, then the fox chuckled.

**Well, you don't need to go that far. One jutsu will do. **Kyuubi said amused. He then gave his vessel all the directions needed to do the jutsu. Naruto frowned at the complexity of it.

He tried to remember the hand seals that Kyuubi showed him._ Inu, Tora, Saru, Ousu-buta.. _Kyuubi sighed in annoyance. The kitling had a horrible memory for such things.

**I'll take care of the hand seals.. **Even with the information of how the jutsu worked, the Anbu couldn't help but be a little excited.

The jutsu had been created before Kohona was even built, in a time where ninjas roamed free, without bounds to a certain village, and deaths were just a daily occurrence. A man was looking for a way to bring his son back to life, and sought his answer in the past. He created a jutsu that would take him back to a time before the death of his son. He would meld with his past self, and with the knowledge of what was to come, prevent his son's death. According to legend, he used the jutsu, and died of stamina depletion before he even reached the past. Many had tried to use it after him, but were said to have died of the same reason.

_Or they could have made it!_ He thought happily, stubbornly ignoring all of the possible horrible outcomes.

The jutsu had been forbidden by the Tsuchikage and sealed in a cave for hundreds of years. However, in the Kyuubi's reign of terror, the seal had been pulled off, and the scroll had disappeared. But when the blood thirsty fox started to attack the ninja villages, the jutsu was least of their concern.

_What do you get out of this? _Naruto wondered, not for the first time. It made sense that the Kyuubi would lend him chakra in his times of need, because if he died, so did the Kyuubi. All the Kyuubi had to do in the time of war was make sure his vessel was safe. He did not have to reveal a jutsu that could save the lives of his friends as well.

_Why are you so eager to do this?_ he asked suspiciously. The Kyuubi coughed. He sounded embarrassed.

**When one has.. paws, it is decidingly difficult to complete a jutsu using hand seals like you insects**. Kyuubi coughed again. **Think of this as a request from a.. handicapped connoisseur.**

_Yeah.. sure. Connoisseur, my ass._ Naruto thought amused. He didn't believe the fox. Though he believed that Kyuubi wouldn't purposely put him in danger if he could help it, after being with each other for so long and developing a sort of companionship, he knew that the fox wouldn't hesitate to lie.

**Fine. Don't believe me.. **The Kyuubi sounded highly offended, but Naruto got the feeling that the fox was pretending.** But get moving on those hand seals before I change my mind.**

Naruto smirked, then performed the hand seal for dog, then tiger. With the Kyuubi barking out what hand seals to perform and how to gather his chakra, he all but forgot everyone else in the closet space.

"W-what are you doing, bro?" Konohamaru asked in surprise of his almost sibling. Naruto paused before making the last seal. The Hokage leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"That jutsu has a death rate of 7:1.." she murmured, her knowledge in jutsu surpassing anyone of the last leaf ninjas. Naruto nodded, not surprised that his ancient granny knew exactly what he was doing. He already knew that she was tempted andwould have gone over to Orochimaru's side to bring back her boyfriend and her little brother. He would have figured that, in her grief, she would have researched any and all ways to bring them back, including the time travel jutsu.

"W-what is he doing, Hokage-sama!" Sakura asked, her voice leaning toward a pleading tone. She did not want to loose another comrade.

The Hokage was silent for a moment. "A.. time traveling jutsu.." Everyone tensed. Neji was the first one to relax, with a heavy sigh.

"Hmph.. As usual, he jumps in head first without preparations." Was his only stared at Naruto was his unnerving teal gaze.

"You... looking for a death wish, Uzumaki Naruto?" he murmured. Naruto said nothing, keeping his gaze on his knees.

"A jutsu of that kind.. is much more different than others. Aburame clan, for instance.." the Hokage said, closing her eyes. They all thought of Shino, dead for the last three years. "Offered chakra to their bugs. If the bugs were satisfied with the offering, they would stay with the offerer, and be used as their tools. If not.. the bugs would eat them alive." Lee shifted uncomfortably, and turned a round eyed gaze to his blue eyed friend. _Naruto-kun.._

She continued. "This sort of jutsu needs an offering of stamina. The very energy that we are using right now to stay awake.. to even think. Most taijutsu specialists have an abnormal amount of stamina, as taijutsu only requires the usage of that. But even so, this jutsu defies Space and Time. The offering of stamina needed to make this even half way work.. is much more than a taijutsu specialist can even offer. Thus, the high death rates."

**The big chested woman.. is quite smart. **Naruto nodded, holding the chakra in place so she could finish explaining. It would be rather rude to die on them when they were still confused about his motives.

"Naruto always had an abnormal amount of stamina in the first place. It could work!" Sakura said, a gleam of hope lighting up her dulled and defeated eyes.

"Yeah old woman, the deaths were of normal ninjas.." Naruto smiled, a gleam of something predatory in his expressive eyes. "I.. am far from normal."

"What do you mean by that, Naruto-kun?" Inari asked. Sure, he wasn't a ninja. He barely understood half of the conversation. _But it seemed like a lot of people who did what Naruto-kun wanted to do died.. But Naruto-kun always defied the laws of reality! He could do it!_

"Why, Inari you ask? Because.. I am a vessel.. like Gaara." Naruto said sadly. Kyuubi shifted in his mind, reminding him that he needed to hurry this conversation up so he could perform the jutsu. "The vessel.. of the Kyuubi."

"W-what!" was the general response of those around him. He smiled sadly to himself. He knew this would happen. His friends would fear him.. and thus hate him. Only Tsunade, Sakura, and Gaara, the ones who were already aware of the Kyuubi's presence in him, would continue to look at him the same way. It didn't matter. Soon, he would be in the past, saving them anyway, because he-

"I already knew." Low and quiet, the last Hyuuga spoke out strongly, jarring Naruto from his thoughts.

-Loved them. He looked at Neji, mouth agape.

"W-what? When.. How..?" he stuttered. The Hyuuga opened his eyes, a brief fit of amusement twisting the corners of his mouth up.

"That you are the vessel to a demon. The first Chuunin Exam we both entered in. My eyes." Neji shifted, that same calm look on his face, a darker emotion turning the pearly whites of his eyes to a somber grey.

"She knew too." he said sadly. "Hinata.. she knew long before I." he frowned, amending his answer. "Maybe not of the demon directly, but she knew something was different about you, something that made all of the adults fear instead of fearing you because of it, she respected you for keeping that smile on your face. She.. loved you. And she died for you, Naruto."

Tears came to Naruto's eyes. _Hinata-chan.._

"You are.. a friend Naruto." Ino said unexpectedly. She swallowed harshly, shadowed blue eyes meeting his own."You are.. an ally. You are.. a brother. You are not an enemy."

"Orochimaru is an enemy. Even Sasuke was an enemy.." Sakura said, picking up after her friend. She smiled gently at her last team mate. "But.. you seem to think that even after all this time, we would abandon you."

"Besides," Lee said, his bandaged covered hand rising to his chin. "I guess having a demon in you is like.. having a bloodline, right?" He looked at Neji. The Hyuuga nodded.

"A really really cool bloodline." Kohonamaru said, nodding to himself. He remembered clearly when his role model had suddenly sprouted claws and had blood red eyes, and suddenly was a hundred times stronger and faster. Inari grinned.

"Demon or not, a dumb blond is still a dumb blond." Naruto glared at him for that comment, though the corners of his mouth twitched up slightly despite his attempt to look mad. Inari laughed, then covered his mouth. It wouldn't due to have the sound ninjas find them all cramped in a corner.

"I love you guys.." Naruto said, face brightening up. "That's why I'm going to save you. Even if I die in the process."

Gaara felt an odd sense of deja vu. In his mind's eye, he saw a twelve year old boy, glaring at him, his face streaked with blood and dirt. The proud blond said that if Gaara hurt anyone of his precious people, he would kill him. The boy had battled against the Sand's strongest shinobi and lived. Barely having enough strength to stand, he still was ready to fight for them. To die for them.

"Gaara.." the boy in his vision, only ten years older looked to him. He looked a little uncertain. "If.. anything goes wrong..." He bit his lip, not knowing how the others would react if they heard him say that the only one he trusted to keep them safe was Gaara himself.

"I will take care of your precious people." One demon vessel said to the other. The blond smiled, relieved beyond measure.

"Thank you..." After waiting what seemed like forever, he performed the dragon seal. Naruto watched as the people in front of him faded, the dark background changing to red. His skin became hot, as the feeling of weightlessness increased.

He was falling too fast, he realized, and started panicking. Strength was torn from his body, drained, and he started to feel weaker and weaker, like energy was being siphoned from his body.

The last thing he saw before the world turned black was something large and of a darker red, catching him, and leading him to safety.


	5. Chapter 3

There was one thing on his mind when Naruto woke up. No wait, a couple of things on his mind. One, the bed was comfy, despite the spring that was poking him in the side. Two, he really, really, _really _needed to go to the bathroom. And three, he had no idea how he had gotten there.

Sure, he could guess, relating to past experiences of waking up in a comfy bed. That one time when he was fourteen and training under the most perverted ninja he knew of, Jiraiya the Ero-Sanin. The toad hermit was 'researching' and tricked Naruto into going into the hot spring area while it was occupied, saying that his ramen was in there.

Naruto, like the naive idiot he was, went to go save his precious ramen and was met by women in various states of undress.

Aware that what he was seeing was not supposed to be mentioned in polite conversation, he covered his eyes, and ran the opposite way. He misjudged the distance from the door to where he was, and ended up running smack dab into it, knocking himself unconscious.

He had woken up in the hospital. Apparently, the women didn't think he was unconscious, so preceded to beat the daylights out of him.

But, the perverted hermit had died rather peacefully in Year Three of the war, of an ulcer in his stomach. So that couldn't be it.

He frowned in the pillow. Or it could have been that he had trained himself to the state of unconsciousness. He had done that before. Then Neji or Lee, who trained as much as he did, could have found him. They had done that before too. Then Ino- who always got the best sleeping arrangements because she was pregnant- or Shikamaru intercepted them, and said that he'd sleep much better on their bed. _Again._

He cursed in the pillow. He deprived a woman carrying around the burden of two people, of sleep. He was such an evil bastard. He pushed himself up. Something clung to the top of his head.

Next time he was going to tell Lee or Neji to leave him on the floor and practice around him. He got up and walked to the door.

Naruto had never been a morning person. He had perfected, however, a way to go through all of his morning routines without even opening his eyes. It had worked well.. until today.

_Stupid, caring people who think they know everything_-

His inner rant was halted when something attacked him from in front. He jumped back, sliding into a taijutsu stance, only to have another hit his spine.

He twisted around, prepared to counter, when his opponents did something to the ground underneath his feet. Something soft twisted around his feet.

Losing balance, he fell face first. His hand fisted in something white that littered the floor. _How utterly low.. to attack me in such a state! _

He waved the white thing that was in his hand. A surrender. Even he knew when fighting was useless.

He flipped to his back, still waving the white material. His eyes widened in surprise for two reasons.

One, the great Uzumaki Naruto, Anbu class ninja, with everything in him to become an excellent Hokage, had been bested by a wall, a dresser, and some dirty clothes.

Two, he was waving around a pair of tighty whities.

He groaned and tossed it aside. He'd figure out where he was. _After_ he relieved his bladder.

Naruto washed his hands, feeling a lot better. _Just find some coffee, some of Inari's double stuffed jelly donuts... _he mentally kept track of what he needed to do. _..Find my flak jacket, my kunai and shuriken holster.. _he glanced at the mirror on his way to the door.

He had almost made it to the hallway when he froze. Then promptly backtracked to look in the mirror.

He wasn't a person obsessed with how he looked in the morning. He certainly wasn't a narcissist, and only ran the brush through his hair twice before losing interest and running off. He had gone out fighting Sound nins in nothing but a pair of boxers, once or twice.

But even Naruto would look twice at the mirror when there was some sort of marine animal trying to bit his head off.

He frowned at the cracked mirror, then pulled the oversized guppy off of his head. It's just a sleeping cap, he reassured himself. He ran his hands over the worn material, feeling in the small rips and tears.

There was something..off with his reflection. For starters, his hair was short. Well, having short hair really wasn't a bother-he had been thinking about cutting it a long time ago, ever since Kabuto grabbed him by his ponytail and tossed him through a couple buildings.- but going from shoulder blade long hair to this length.. and not remembering how it happened?

_Alright.. how drunk did I get last night?_ he asked the Kyuubi. He patiently waited for something along the lines of, **_'You got roaring ass drunk, did the tango with Lee while wearing a dress, mistook Shikamaru for a rock and started giving him advice on how to raise children, and sung 'For He's a Jolly Good Fellow!' at the top of your lungs, and knocked yourself unconscious while fighting with a statue..'_ **At least.. that's what he said last time..

Instead he got.. a snore? He was surprised and stared at the younger looking version of him in the mirror. The boy just shrugged. Naruto's eyes narrowed suddenly. Wait a sec..

_Kyuubi, what the hell?! You don't need to sleep! _

**..Damn. I liked you better when you were short and stupid.. **the Kyuubi muttered.**Wait.. you're still stupid.. **

Naruto growled. The fox then chuckled sadistically. **And now, I shrimpifed you.**

Puzzled by the cryptic words, he looked at his reflection. He frowned, and bounced up and down on the balls of his feet.

His face paled when he realized what the fox had meant.

"I'm a midget!"

It took him a while to calm down. It didn't help that the Kyuubi was making jabs at him left and right. It took him even longer to remember why he was 'shrimpifed', as the Kyuubi pointed out with a snicker.

Sadistic bastard.

The apartment was really just two rooms, if you thought about it. His living room, which was a small corner with a black and white television led into his laundry room -another corner- and led into his kitchen, which was the other room. The door to his room was often shut to hide the piles and piles of dirty orange jump suits he needed to clean. He instead grabbed the only clean clothes left in his room- a black zip up vest over a shirt that was a little too tight for him, and dark green shorts.

Naruto eventually got to the kitchen, without starting a fight with another innocent wall. After a quick breakfast-he was starved. It took twenty packets of instant ramen to sate his hunger-, he leaned against the refrigerator with a cup of tea- there was no coffee-, and organized his thoughts.

So. He was supposed to be the savior of Kohona, and other countless villages, and blah blah blah. More importantly, he needed to kick major snake butt. But now, he was a lot younger- at least in looks- than he had been when he could at least stand toe to toe with Orochimaru, all because he had melded with his former self. So now he was a weakling.

**Actually, both of our chakra had doubled. **

.._Huh? _The fox sighed. **Remember? You melded with your past self. _I_ melded with my past self. **

_..not following. _There was some murmured things coming from the fox in a different language. Naruto just knew that what he was saying wasn't a good thing, considering the fact that his tenant said them with such feeling.

**..One plus one equals two. Add two things together, and you get something of a greater quantity...Most of the time, but going into negatives would be going way over your head. **Ignoring the fox's insult-or maybe just not understanding it?-Naruto grinned.

_I get it! My chakra had increased! But what about my physical strength?_

**Finally, an intelligent question.. **The Kyuubi drawled.** Most of your physical strength had come from me, and my chakra, so that has increased as well.**

_Alright_, he thought to himself. _I'm in the past. I'm supposed to save the world from queens like Orochimaru.. So how much time do have left till the war? ..Or better yet, till Sasuke ditches us for the Sound and his revenge?_

The Kyuubi had no idea what the day was that he had dropped them off at. Naruto began taking information from the situation in front of him to form a clearer picture.

It was something he was good at, and something he found enjoyable.

_Okay.. I have an apartment, so that puts me between.. 7ish and 19. _Saddened, he remembered that on his nineteenth birthday, the city of Kohona was no longer in their control. He glanced around, looking for more information. On the counter, there was a pair of muddy goggles.

_My goggles!_ A good memory came with that. On his tenth birthday, he had been wishing himself a happy birthday. It had echoed throughout the small apartment, and Naruto was suddenly on the verge of tears. No one cared for him. Then the bell rang. He ran to the door, thinking it was the landlord coming to yell at him for making too much noise. Instead, lying on the mat was a small wrapped package. He lifted it up, thinking that they got the wrong address when he saw it had his name on it.

He had carefully untucked the note from under the string tied around the package, making sure it wasn't booby trapped like last year's surprise birthday cake. He opened it. It was smudged with what looked like eraser marks. Apparently, whoever put this on his porch had no idea what to say, and kept on erasing to write something else.

In small writing-he could tell it was a girl's because the paper smelled so nice- it said 'Happy Birthday, Naruto-kun.' It was unsigned.

Somehow, that simple sentence was enough to brighten his whole day. He ripped open the package, and lying neatly in the remains was a pair of shiny goggles.

"Cool!" he had muttered, then put them on his face. It needed to be adjusted, but it was the best birthday present he had ever gotten, the only one he had gotten besides Iruka's birthday ramen.

He had spent the rest of the day pretending to be a fighter pilot.

He smiled, and picked up the goggles. They were worn with use, and needed a good cleaning.

A slight shift of the demon chakra, a sort of semi-violent poke from the fox, made him remember what he was doing before hand.

"Oh yeah! I have my goggles, so that puts me between ten and.. eh, fifteen!" He had lost them during his three year training with Jiraiya. He slipped the goggle around his neck, for old times sake.

After pacing around the small apartment for an hour, slowly eliminating the ages, he lost his infamously short temper._ Dammit, fox! Can't you even **guess where** you threw us?! _He himself couldn't guess, based only on his reflection.

He had stayed the same size from ten to fifteen, when he had a sudden growth spurt, easily vaulting him up to Jiraiya's height.

**Time is something humans invented. Demons live forever. Time is irrelevant. **

The bell rang before he could counter the demon. Muttering angrily, he opened the door with an annoyed "What?!"

The guilty charge jumped back a few feet in shock and in fear. Then promptly bowed.

"I a-am sorry for interrupting you, N-Naruto-kun." And she bowed again, never meeting his eyes. She turned and started to walk away.

"Wait, Hinata-chan!" With her back to her crush, her pale face blossomed into a rich pink._-chan..? _she asked herself. Although she had rarely ever summoned up the courage to talk to the boy, he felt comfortable enough around her to call her Hinata-chan?

Her fingers twitched from in front of her, then started to poke each other in her nervous habit. But she was far from nervous. Hinata had never felt more happy in her entire life.

She turned slowly around. The Hyuuga heiress -ex-heiress, she reminded herself sadly- had snuck out of the mansion, just to see him.

She had seen him the day before, sitting on his swing, looking dejected. She had wanted to run up to him, throw her arms around him. She had wanted that look to go away.

She wanted for him to smile, not one of those fake ones that screamed out his loneliness as much as if he had screamed it out himself. She wanted to cheer him up, tell him that there was always next time. Tell him that even the best ninjas failed at least once.

But before Hinata could summon up the courage to do so, he had disappeared. And now, here she was. After not being able to sleep all night, she had put her foot down. No one was going to stop her! She was going to Naruto, and make his smile come back.

"N-Naruto-kun.." It had sounded so much more confident in her head. "I'm sorry- " No wait, Naruto wouldn't want her pity, he was too strong for that. She amended.

"N-ninjas even really p-powerful ones.. lose s-sometimes.." She could barely get out. Naruto waited for her to finish. It sounded like a good way to start a speech, like many he had given to Kohonamaru.

But that's all her limited courage could let her get out. She stared at the ground, her cheeks blazing. She had noticed the goggles hanging around his neck, just as she hung her forehead protector. Even after seeing it for so long, she was glad that he still wore it.

_Okay. Awkward.._ he thought.

"Uh.. Hinata-chan.." Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "..What day is it?"

"Um.. the day we get divided into teams.. oops.." she covered her mouth with her hands. "I'm s-s-sorry, Naruto-kun..." The rest of her apology went unheard.

_Ah! Yes! The day I was put into Team Seven... _

**A turning point in your life.. It was the easiest place to land on.. **

_You coulda told me that before.._ was the sullen reply. He was ignored.

**The small blue haired female seems to think that you didn't pass the exit exam.**

"Oh, that's why! You silly goose!" he ruffled her hair. Ten new shades of red were invented by one Hyuuga.

"Gimme a sec! Then we can walk to the Academy together!" he bounded back into the apartment, shutting the door in her face.

_T-together?_ The Hyuuga felt light headed. She smiled, a happy feeling in her heart. But one thought jumped up, waging a finger at her happiness._Why would he want to walk with a weak and ugly girl like me, instead of someone beautiful like Ino-san or Sakura-san? _

Unaware of the girl's depression, Naruto ran back to his room, took off the goggles hanging around his neck, and pulled out his forehead protector.

He looked at it proudly, and misty eyed. Iruka had taken this from his own head, and given it to not to the vessel of the feared demon Kyuubi, but him, Uzumaki Naruto, his 'most excellent student'. Iruka was the very first to see beyond the shadow of the demon fox and see him.

_"She knew too. Long before I."_ Neji's words repeated in his head. _"Instead of fearing you because of it, like many of the adults, she respected you for keeping that smile on your face. She.. loved you. And she died for you, Naruto."_

"Maybe not the first first." He amended, but tied it around his head all the same. He ran to the door, flinging it back open.

Hinata looked back up, a little sad that he'd put his goggles away, but brightened up when she saw the leaf adorned forehead protector.

"You did pass!"

"Hehe.. Sorry for not inviting you in, Hinata-chan. I didn't want an evil dust bunny to attack you." she laughed. "No, really! I was attacked by a wall, a dresser, and some clothes! They're possessed, I tell ya!" he smiled merrily, and with an exaggerated bow, he offered his arm to her. He deepened his voice, adopting a royal accent.

"My lady Hinata. You are looking ravishing this morning. Allow me to escort such a beautiful lady to the castle?" she giggled, and placed her hand in the crook of his elbow.

"I..I would be honored, N-Naruto-kun." she murmured.


	6. Chapter 6

One of the most important things an Anbu needs to have is their mask. Carved as the animal that most fits their nature, and painted with the colors of their rank -red as elite, all the way down to blue as rookie. They would become one with it. It protected their identity, their health, and most of the time.. their sanity.

The Anbu weren't the only ninjas with the need to wear a mask.

Hatake Kakashi was one who did, wearing a half mask to conceal his lower features. His reason for needing a mask was secret, the mystery around what he looked like underneath it all but legendary. Few had got the chance to see it off in a mere second. None he had taken it off willingly for.

Hyuuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke, two geniuses from the top two clans, also had the need to wear a mask. Although their masks were not in a physical form, they were there all the same. A mask of indifference. Of coldness. A subtle 'I am better than you. Stay out of my bubble.'

The only difference between the Uchiha's mask and the Hyuuga's was that after a while, Neji could lower his mask. He could act like a human being. He could feel. He could care.

Sasuke couldn't. After Itachi killed off his family, the mask became glued to him. It could not be removed. There was times it cracked from the stress of being used too much, but it still held.

Yet another... was Uzumaki Naruto.

Instead of a shield of coldness to ward off evil doers, there was a bright and sunny smile. There was a prankster, looking out pleadingly toward his audience for someone to acknowledge him. There was a boy who had no choice but to carry the most infamous demon to ever roam the land. The boy who was all but ignored by the people he was supposed to protect, those who could not see past the shadow of the Kyuubi and dare hope to look in those crystal blue eyes. He was taunted. Insulted. All but the children hated him, and even they picked up that behavior from their parents.

Instead of crying or breaking into a thousand little pieces that no one could ever hope to glue back together, as they all wanted him to do, he got back up. He'd grin merrily at the person who just insulted him. Pull a prank or two. Grab some ramen and skip back to his home, humming a song underneath his breath.

After some time, even the people who hated him started to admire him for holding up such an unshakable facade, even comparing it to the Hyuuga poker face.

But Uzumaki Naruto's mask had a tendency to crack, and he cried when he reached his doorstep.

* * *

The dark haired boy was about an inch away from smacking the girl who was talking to him, but that would lead to so much paper work. She kept on talking, and talking, _and talking! _One would have thought so much noise would have a lethal effect on the listener.

The Academy was just ahead. The dark haired boy quickened his pace, eager to get there before another one of the parasites could cling to his arm.

This was an utter waste of time. He should have been training, not being stalked by a girl with limited stealth skills on his way to meeting where it would be decided which Jonin he would train under.

It did not matter which team he was put on. If they all stood off to the sideline while he completed the missions and gained rank, that is.

His brother wasn't going to fall on a fork and die, after all. It was up to him to avenge his family. And nobody was going to get in his way.

She noticed the change in pace and caught up with him, latching on his arm.

Damn.

Sounds of the girl's jargon passed unnoticed by the boy, when he locked his dark gaze with someone who annoyed him even more than the girl talking at him.

His rival saw him, and stopped walking. He turned pale and his blue eyes widened. His rival's companion, the white eyed Hyuuga girl, stopped and asked him what was wrong.

He glared at his rival. His rival just looked back with haunted eyes.

Of course his rival would be wary. He had pulled a prank on the wrong person. After coming back to the laundry mat to find all of his white shorts pink, a man would be murderous.

He wanted his rival to come at him. Scream. Yell. Insult him. Challenge him to a battle of wits or a battle of fists. Anything to get him away from his fan girl.

The blonde walked forward. The dark haired boy was tense, battle-ready. Just in case the blonde didn't announce his attack. The sunlight shone from his rival's forehead protector, blinding him for a moment. Huh.. he didn't know the blonde had passed.

The dark eyed boy's clingy companion noticed his rival and sneered at him, looking down the sharp curve of her nose at the other boy. He nearly cursed when he felt her grip on his arm tighten.

The blonde got closer, then walked right past, the Hyuuga girl following his footsteps. The blue haired girl threw a sharp glare at his fan girl, a surprising reaction from the shy girl. He paid no attention to either girl, just fixed his gaze on his rival's back.

He couldn't believe it. It was as sharp and as harsh as a punch to the stomach.

He, Uchiha Sasuke, had been completely ignored by the number one most hyperactive ninja of Kohona.

* * *

"Iruka-san.." Another one of the Academy teachers, a red haired, glasses wearing chuunin, peeked her head into his classroom. He looked up from making sure that everyone of the twenty seven graduates was organized on a team and assigned to a jonin.. "Akimichi-kun wants to talk to you." Chouji peeked his head around the Chuunin, still munching on some chips.

He smiled. It was so good to see one of his students, proudly displaying their Kohona headband.

"Come in Chouji." Iruka shifted some papers on his desk. "What is it you need?" Chouji edged around the woman, who promptly left when she realized she wasn't needed.

The plump boy looked closer at his old teacher and then reeled back.

"What happened to you!" he asked worriedly. The chuunin was covered head to toe in bandages. There was a purple bruise fading on his tan cheek. It looked like he had been in a war. Iruka rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, wincing when that brought a fresh wave of pain from the shuriken wound in his back.

"Ump.. I got in a fight." _Wasn't much of a fight.._ he thought privately to himself. _Naruto took care of Mizuki without any help from me_. His brown eyes warmed when he thought of the blonde. He had such a harsh life, being shunned by the villagers because of the fox. Yet he emerged from it all, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. He went in without the knowledge of how to properly make a Bunshin, yet came out with the knowledge of how to perform a Kage Bunshin, the forbidden Jonin jutsu.

He was so proud of Naruto. The blonde was going to go places, with that kind of raw talent.

But he had to question the Hokage's request to put Uchiha Sasuke and him together, and put them under a Jonin named Hatake Kakashi, who had never passed a student. He frowned at the paper at the names listed under Team Seven. Did he want Naruto's fire to burn out so quickly?

"Uh.. Okay. I came here to talk about my Bunshin." Iruka focused on the boy in front of him.

"Your Bunshin was passable. Why do you want to talk about it?" Chouji toed the ground nervously, than performed Bunshin no Jutsu. Two Choujis stood next together when the smoke faded. The real Chouji stood back and looked at his Bunshin critically.

"I think he's too fat. What do you think?" Iruka backed up in his chair, a brief moment of panic crossing over his scarred face. There was no safe answer to that. Chouji would be offended if the teacher said it was perfect, and if he said he said it was too thin.. He did not want to face the famous Akimichi temper tantrum.

There was only one thing he could do. The trickiest and most low solution he could think of.

Distraction.

"Eh... Oh, Chouji! They're serving breakfast in the teacher's lounge! Want to come with me?" Iruka crossed his fingers underneath the desk. The pudgy boy's face lit up.

"Like as in food! I am so there!"

And thus this is how the Chuunin teacher Umino Iruka dodged another shuriken. Whooping happily, Chouji grabbed his old teacher's arm and dragged him to the teacher's lounge. The door slammed shut behind them.

A head popped up -popped down, apparently this person was upside down- in the window behind Iruka's desk. He grabbed the top of the window sill and righted himself by dropping down to the bottom. He attached chakra to his feet so he wouldn't fall down, then opened the window.

"Finally.." the boy complained. He was wearing a vest over a fishnet shirt, and wore his hair in a high ponytail. His vest had the symbol for the Nara clan on his shoulder.

The boy, for we all now know was indeed Shikamaru, spotted the paper with the teams written on it. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pen and a crumbled up piece of paper.

"Well copy away, Nara.." he grumbled to himself, then copied the paper's information on his own.

* * *

Naruto felt his heart stop when he saw Sasuke. The same old mask fixed in place. The same way his hair stuck out in the back and hung low in the front. Same old Sasuke. Naruto felt a burning sensation behind his eyes. _Sasuke.. you bastard._

_-Flashback-_

_The Atasuki and the Sound attacked Kohona from both sides, but were not allies. Apparently, Orochimaru had done something that had really pissed the group of missing nins off. But if one was weakened even in the slightest, things would look up for them. His mission was an S class one. A one Sakura called him insane for agreeing to. But hey, he was fifteen. He still thought he was invincible._

_He was supposed to gather information about the Atasuki in a town they had been frequently sighted at. The instructions were easy. Go in as Naruko, his female 'Sexy no Jutsu' counterpart. Sneak around. Don't get caught. And if he was somehow captured anyway, kill himself before they could interrogate him._

_He took off, a perfect alibi in hand, fake passports even. But when he got to the village, it was in ruins. He immediately ran to the closest inn._

_"Hey! Is everyone okay?" It was a dumb question to ask, and the empty inn seemed to think so too, the question echoing off of the walls in a whiny tone. But he didn't expect an answer._

_"No one's okay.. Naruto-kun." Naruto whipped around and stared at the man leaning against the telephone pole. He had blood red eyes, black hair, and wore a black cape with red clouds on it. His forehead protector was slashed._

_"Itachi!" Naruto hissed out, his eyes turning a vague shade of purple, barely hiding the red beneath. "It was you! You killed all these people!" _

_The missing nin did not bother to lie. It was not in his style. He merely nodded, his eyes calm._

_"Their sole purpose for being here was so that I could measure my power against them." he shook his head, wisps of black hair dancing around his pale, drawn in face. "I found them lacking."_

_"What right do you have to decide whether innocent people should live or die!" Naruto exploded. The hazy purple disappeared for a moment into a brilliant red, then died._

_Itachi watched him carefully for a moment. "Ninjas kill people. For greedy and weak people who cannot do it themselves, and to prove their existence. I would have thought you'd know that by now, Naruto-kun.."_

_"Ninjas protect people! They protect them from people like you!" Naruto flipped the Uchiha off. "And stop adding calling me 'Naruto-kun!"_

_Cold amusement washed over the man's half hidden face. "What would you like for me to call you? Kyuubi? Future Hokage?" he sneered._

_"Your executioner." The boy growled. His eyes became slitted, while the whisker like marks on his face stretched out. His nails became sharp claws._

_For once, the Kyuubi's and Naruto's thought patterns were identical. **Kill.** _

_For an hour, the missing nin and Naruto just countered each other. Taijutsu against taijutsu. Flame against flame. Illusion against illusion._

_There was a few times where it looked like Itachi's superior jutsus were going to win him the match. But Naruto jumped right back up, prepared to fight till Death had to wrestle him into the Shadow Realm._

_A normal Naruto's stamina was insane. But a Naruto fused with Kyuubi power? That was plain nuts._

_Itachi was slowing down. He was no longer playing. He aimed for critical points, points that could either kill of knock out opponents. But Naruto kept on blocking, still going at the speed he had started with in the beginning of the match._

_He saw an opening. The angry boy powered up his hand for a rasengan. The pure white orb spun around in his hand, then buried itself in the man's chest. _

_There was no change of expression on Itachi's face, but Naruto could tell the missing nin was dead by the glassy look in his eyes and the awful stench of death in his nose._

_He pulled his hand out of Itachi's chest with a squelching sound. The corpse fell, black eyes staring out listlessly. Naruto closed the missing nin's eyes with his unbloodied hand._

_"May you rot in hell for what you did to your family and countless others..." he murmured, before falling back into the ground. His eyes faded back to a hazy blue. _

_He stared up into the sky, his eyes falling shut. All he wanted to do was sleep.. But Lady Luck wasn't smiling down at him today._

_"Naruto." His name was spat out like a curse. The said Chuunin stiffened. He knew that voice. He immediately jumped back up, cursing when the world spun around him a couple times. _

_He gazed at the newcomer, the blood trickling down from the wound on his forehead hindering the sight of his left eye._

_"Sasuke.." he managed to get out. Somehow, the last Uchiha's eyes got even colder._

_"You .. took away my reason for living! You selfish bastard!" Sasuke yelled, the curse seal activating, turning his chakra into a sickly purple. Naruto flinched at the harsh tone and backed up._

_"But...Sasuke.." he tried to explain. It was sudden. He hadn't planned to kill his rival's older brother! It just happened!_

_"Naruto..." Sasuke's voice was sudden calm. "I'm... going to kill you now. And I'm not going to retreat like the time we fought at the border." His hands cupped around each other and his palms pointed down. Electric blue energy zipped around his form. "Chidori!"_

_Naruto backed up a few more paces, nearly tripping over Itachi's body, rasengan forming in his left hand by habit. _

_His once teammate ran at him, sharingan eyes flaring up. Naruto slide into a defensive position, rasegan slightly in front of him. Then Sasuke disappeared. _

_"Shit!" Naruto whipped around to see the boy right behind him. The other boy caught both of his wrists before he could do anything, the rasengan still swirling in his left hand. Any chance of kicking free would be futile. Sasuke was much better at taijutsu than he was. Naruto had very high endurance and could take any physical attack thrown at him, so attacking in that form was useless._

_But Sasuke's mind was far from fighting his ex-friend. He eyed the rasengan._

_"You've gotten better.." he said unexpectedly. "You barely have to focus to get the form right.." Then the grip on Naruto's left wrist tightened. He was jerked forward._

_For the second time that day, he smelt death and blood trickled through his fingers._

_"Sasuke!" The Sound nin had shoved the rasegan through his own stomach. Naruto was afraid to take it out, not wanting to hurt him anymore. _

_"Thank you.,. Naruto." Sasuke ripped himself free, and fell to the ground. Naruto immediately dropped down to his knees, his hands trying to stop the other boy's bleeding. _

_"Sasuke! Listen to me... You'll be alright... Just hang on!" His arms moved to grab the boy and hoist him in the air, but soft spoken words make him stop._

_"I don't want to live." Naruto stiffened. "I don't want... this emptiness. This feeling of uselessness. And I don't want to do Orochimaru's dirty work anymore." Sasuke took a deep breath, then winced in pain. Blood coated his lips._

_"You... You're a coward! You can't face life just because you don't have a reason to live anymore! You're... so dumb. " Naruto said, tears running down his face. A true smile came to Sasuke's face._

_"I... could never be as brave as you are, Naruto." He glanced over at his dead brother. "You know... You were more of a brother to me... than he was. I just wanted you to know that..."_

_Naruto's hand fisted over his heart. This pain of losing someone... losing the 'precious friend'. Was this how Zabuza felt when Haku was killed? Was this what Inari felt when he lost his step father and the rest of his family? Was this how Kohonamaru felt when his grandfather died? Was this... what Sasuke felt his entire life? More tears fell._

_"You were... a brother to me too." Sasuke nodded. He already knew._

_"Tell Sakura... that I'm sorry. I really did mean... to... come... back..." The last Uchiha breathed his final words in the arms of his comrade, his best friend... and most of all his brother._

_End Flashback_

Naruto had to get away from Sasuke. And now would be the best time to do so. Ignoring the cold look Sasuke's fangirl gave him, he walked past the Uchiha, and pushed open the double doors. He could tell from Hinata's steadily rising chakra that she was angry. Sighing, he veered to the left, pulling Hinata along with him.

"But.. N-Naruto-kun! We're supposed to go to room 7C!" she stuttered out. They were on the other side of the school. He found what he was looking for. An abandoned classroom. He walked in, and motioned for her to follow.

He closed the door behind her.

"W-what's wrong?" He needed to calm down, he realized numbly. He was scaring his only friend away. He took deep breaths, and willed the bloody images away. He insead focused on Hinata. Her scent, the way she kept twitching slightly, the still heightened chakra, like she wanted to push past him and knock the other girl's lights never knew that Hinata had a temper when it came to things about him.

He turned around, a small smile on his face.

"Hinata-chan... What am I ever going to do with you?" he murmured amused. She blushed, and started to poke her index fingers together. He caught them in the middle of the second poke.

"Don't do that." he said softly. She started to look anywhere but him.

He caught her chin in his other hand, and pulled her gaze to him. Hinata blushed even more. _I think ..I'm going to faint.._

"Don't get angry over what other people do to little ole' me. Besides, what goes around comes around. She'll end up having a bad hair day in a week's worth time, I guarantee it." he gave her a foxy grin. "Why, I'll even help it along!"

He got the reaction he wanted. The girl giggled and a wide smile took over the frown that was there before. Naruto let go of her. _What did I ever do to get a girl like Hinata to like me, I wonder?_

**Vixens choose the strongest male to have pups with.** The Kyuubi supplied helpfully.

_But what about love?_ Naruto asked. He could feel the Kyuubi frown in his mind.

**Another human invention. Demons kill. Demons mate. Demons breed. Then they do it all over again. Love is not needed.**

For some reason, that made Naruto feel sad. _Well, you guys don't know what you're missing. _The Kyuubi had no counter for that.

He smiled at the girl in front of him. "Hinata.." he began. "Whenever you feel sad, think of me. I'm sure that ought to give you a laugh or two."

"I..I.." he was so confident when he spoke! Why couldn't she be the same? "I'll think of you... when I'm feeling weak... " His eyes widened in surprise. Her soft voice had become very strong at that last part. Naruto had a hard time trying to connect 'weak' and 'Hinata' in the same sentence without a 'not' between them. This was the girl who died for him, after all.

"..Because when I think of you.. I'm inspired to be stronger! To be just like you! Defy all odds.. and prove that everyone's opinions of me are wrong and based on false ideas!" Hinata covered her mouth her hand. She had been so energetic about it. Now she was embarrassed. He probably thought she was being weird..

Naruto whistled. "Go Hinata-chan!" He gave her a thumbs up. "Glad you feel that way!" Her cheeks burned red, but she was so happy.

"Shit!" Naruto had looked at the clock. "We spent too much time in here!" He grabbed her hand, marveling for a moment how small and pale it was compared to his own.

"Come on!" They burst out of the classroom, and ran to the other side of the school, their hands never parting.

"Well.. I'll be damned.." A woman with red eyes murmured behind her illusion. A potted plant suddenly transformed into a tall bearded man with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"Kinda cute actually.." he said, dropping the cigarette on the ground, then stepping on it. The wall next to him shimmered, and then the woman from before appeared. She smiled at her companion.

"And I thought _we_ were the only ones who wanted to hide out in an old classroom unsupervised.."


End file.
